The Narrative Essay!
8th Grade
Narrative Essays
Today we are going to start
thinking about the next
essay that you will
write…the narrative
essay! These essays fall
into the expository
category.
 Narrative essays are
much easier for some
people to write because
you are telling about
something, not just
arguing a point.
Narrative Essays


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In a narrative essay,
you relate a personal
experience or tell a
story.
You tell stories all the
time: to your friends, to
your teachers, to your
parents and other
relatives.
When you tell a story,
you relate an
experience to others.
Narrative Essays


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Basically, a narrative
essay tells a story or
relates a personal
experience.
You are telling the
reader a story about
yourself.
So, what do I need to
know about a narrative
essay?
Narrative Essays

Narrative Essays need a number of
different things to be effective.
A beautiful beginning that hooks the reader in.
 Has a lot of elaboration with details (it needs
to paint a picture!)
 Has reactions and feelings throughout the
piece.
 Uses dialogue
 Has a zinger at the end for an effective
closing.
 Uses A TON of good transitions!

Narrative Essays!
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In addition, a narrative
essay needs three
basic parts: a
beginning, a middle,
and an end.
A narrative essay can
be easy to write if you
break it down into
paragraphs.
A basic narrative will
go like this:
Introduction
I.
I.
II.
Beautiful Beginning
Preview what you are going to talk about “This was my favorite trip
because we did so many cool things and, of course, my sister ending up in
the River was a priceless childhood moment!”
Paragraph one: What led up to the event. THE BEGINNING!
II.
I.
II.
Background: Why did you do this? Did someone make you? Were you
going on a trip? What was the trip there like? Tell me how the story
started!
Details, reactions, quotes
Paragraph two: What you did. THE MIDDLE!
III.
I.
II.
What did you do when you got there? What happened? Did someone get
hurt? Do something funny?
Details, reactions, quotes!
Paragraph three: What was the result THE END
IV.
I.
II.
What happened? Did you get into trouble? How did you end the
adventure?
Details, reactions, quotes
Conclusion: What you learned. Tie up your story.
V.
I.
II.
What did you learn by doing/going? Did you have fun? Would you do it
again? Recap where you went and what you did!
End with a ZINGER!
Every Narrative…

Must have a conflict, a rising action, and a
climax! After all, you are telling a story!
Narrative Essays

The key to writing a
great narrative essay
is to:

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Tell a complete story
Make sure to put in a lot
of details.
Entertain the reader!
STAY IN
CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDER!
Transitions, transitions,
transitions!!!
Narrative Example
Mindy Deckard
8th Grade English
Narrative Essay
1st Quarter
Everything Is Going Wrong!
Have you ever had one of those days where
everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, goes wrong?
I have a great example of just such a day. If you
could imagine it, it happened-from my Chihuahua
getting sick on my favorite jacket to missing the bus
to my parents literally forgetting me at school! Some
days it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed; this was one
of those days!
My crummy day started splendidly, and I mean
that sarcastically, when my alarm clock buzzed
annoyingly at 6:30. That might not seem like a bad
start to the morning until you realize that I did not
actually hear my clock until 7:10. What a way to
start a day! I raced into the bathroom and took
what had to be the fastest shower known to man.
Then I bounded back to my room, only to come
upon the next disaster. My Chihuahua, Paco, had
gotten sick on my favorite jacket-the one I was
going to wear to school that day. Since I hadn’t put
my clothes in the wash the morning before, the only
thing I had clean was a pair of bright red pants and
a green polo shirt. “Yeah,” I said sarcastically to
myself, “I am going to look like a great big
Christmas tree in the middle of February!” No time
to worry, though. I was already too late for
breakfast and, if I didn’t get a move on now, I was
going to miss my bus.
Unfortunately, my day didn’t get any better at
school. In leaving for school that morning, I
forgot to grab my algebra assignment. This was
especially bad because my algebra teacher,
Mrs. Richardson, never, EVER took work late.
“Great, just great,” I muttered to myself as I
jammed my coat, my bag, and what I could fit of
my softball gear in my locker. However, that was
also just the beginning. During the day, I was
late to not one, but three classes. The lunch
featured tuna surprise-the surprise being that it
was actually considered food! Then, halfway
through seventh hour, I realized that I had
forgotten to set the VCR to record my favorite
television show, “Beverly Hills 90210” which was
on while I was at softball practice. The day was
going from bad to worse in a hurry!
To top off a great ending to a fabulous day,
sarcastically speaking, I was dead tired at the
end of softball practice. My arms were killing me
and my knee hurt from being in the catcher’s
position for what seemed like two solid hours. I
grabbed my gear from the locker room and
trudged to the door. However, when I got there,
I realized something very important. My parents
had forgotten to pick me up! I was going to have
to walk home from school with a mountain of
homework and my softball gear! “Great, just
great,” I said to myself. I ended up walking
home the whole way-all two miles. My Mom told
me that she just forgot that I had practice. You
would have thought that my absence would
have been a clue-but no. I decided then and
there to make it a short night and go to bed
early. It was the least I could do to get out of this
blasted day!
Needless to say, that April day was
probably one of the most aggravating,
horrible days of my life. Everything from
my alarm clock ringing on was horrible! I
learned a lot about that day, looking back.
I learned that your alarm clock can be
cruel, your dog can be too gross for words,
and if something can go wrong, it will on
certain days. However, I know that, more
than anything else, I NEVER want to have
another day like that ever again!
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What happens if I can’t think of anything to
write?
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No one is actually going to check your story to make
sure it is factual.
However, the key is to make it believable. That
means, even if the prompt is really unusual, make it
sound like it actually did happen.
For example, if I ask you what your favorite field trip
was, don’t answer “to the moon.” Say “King’s Island”
or Wrigley Field instead…at least that is believable.
Remember…
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You are graded on
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Staying on topic the whole
time (talk about one trip,
one event, one day…don’t
“chase kangaroos!”)
Support/Elaboration (Give
a lot of details…you are
telling this story to
someone…they want to
know what happened!)
Organization (Make sure
your story has a beginning,
a middle, and an end!)
Conventions (After all, this
is an English class!)